The Running Shoe Choice

When you think of ways to exercise, running or walking always seems to be at the top of the list. If is to get in shape on a treadmill, or experience the great out-doors, there is always a good reason to get out and move. Everyone knows there can be great health benefits to an exercise program and you can make running part of it. The main part of running is choosing the right running shoe. Use a shoe that will benefit your running style and foot type. You can underpronate, when your foot does not turn inward enough while running or walking. There is also overpronation, when your foot rotates too far in. To try and figure out your foot type you can run in sand or step on a piece of paper with wet feet. These are conditions that can be accounted for with the right pair of shoes. You can research each type of shoe to make sure you are getting the right pair of shoes each time. When you start running it is recommended you replace your shoes every 300-350 miles. Running on worn shoes can cause injuries. Try to find your next pair of shoes before your current pair is worn out and rotate them in to make the transition more comfortable and try to keep your shoes dry and even keep a spare pair just in case. Making the right shoe choices before you start running can help you stick with it and gain all the benefits.

Sore muscles

December 14, 2008If you exercise properly, you are supposed to work hard enough to damage your muscles so they feel sore on the next day. This is called delayed-onset muscle soreness. You should then exercise at reduced intensity for as many days as it takes for the soreness to go away.An article from St Mary’s University College in New Zealand reviews scientific studies on exercise-induced muscle damage (Sports Medicine, December 2008). When muscles feel sore from exercise, they are swollen and leak proteins from inside their cells into the bloodstream, and they cannot generate their usual force. You really have no choice. You must put far less pressure on sore muscles or you will injure them, delaying recovery and your ability to exercise intensely again.Sore muscles heal faster if you take the next day off, but exercising gently during recovery will make your muscles more fibrous so they can withstand more pressure when you take your next intense workout.Eating foods with protein and sugar within four hours after you finish a hard workout helps muscles recover faster. The sugar raises insulin levels which helps to drive protein into the muscle cells to promote healing.Aspirin and nonsteroidals such as ibuprofin may help reduce muscle soreness, but they can delay healing. Stretching and massage make your muscles feel better but there is little evidence that they make you recover faster. Studies of electrical muscle stimulation and cold therapy (ice packs) are so inconsistent that most exercise researchers do not recommend them. On the other hand, virtually everyone agrees that each bout of intense, muscle-damaging exercise followed by reduced intensity exercise makes muscles stronger
Dr.Mirkin.com

Exercise After Eating

Exercise After Eating OK for Most People
Many people believe that exercising right after youeat will cause stomach cramps, but that doesn't usually happen.Whenever your stomach fills with food, its muscles contractand require large amounts of blood. When you exercisevigorously, your heart pumps large amounts of blood to yourskeletal muscles. If your heart is not strong enough to pumpblood to both your stomach and your skeletal muscles, blood isshunted from your stomach muscles, the muscles lack oxygen,lactic acid builds up in muscles and they start to hurt. However,most people can exercise after eating without suffering crampsbecause their hearts are strong enough to pump blood to boththeir exercising muscles and their stomach muscles. Some researchers believe that you shouldn't eat sugarbefore you exercise because it will cause your blood sugar levelto rise and your pancreas to release insulin, which will causeyour blood sugar to drop too low so you will feel tired duringexercise. However, the major cause of tiredness that you feel inyour muscles during exercise is lack of stored sugar in muscles.Taking any extra calories before and during exercise helps topreserve the sugar that is stored in muscles and help you toexercise longer. If you are going to exercise for more than anhour, eat or drink anything you like before and during yourexercise. Most people will not get stomach cramps whileexercising, no matter what or when they eat.
Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health E-Zine